The First Minister (Nicola Sturgeon):
We must never forget the horrors of the Holocaust and
other genocides around the world, which are a stark reminder of
the inhumanity and violence that bigotry and intolerance can
cause if left unchallenged.
Last year, as I have noted in the
chamber before, I joined young people from 89 Scottish schools
on a Holocaust Educational Trust visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau. I
will never forget what I saw there and I am sure that neither
will the young people who were with me. We must never forget
what antisemitism can lead to if it is not challenged and why
education about tolerance, compassion and respect is so
important.
Next week, the Cabinet Secretary for
Communities and Local Government will speak at this year’s
national event to mark international Holocaust memorial day,
which will take place in East Renfrewshire. I know that a
members’ business debate on the subject will take place later
today. I also had the honour of signing the Holocaust memorial
day book of commitment in Parliament earlier this week.
:
Two of the most important lessons of the Holocaust are
about the capacity of human beings to systematically inflict
suffering and death on other human beings and about the fact
that such actions could take place in what had been regarded as
an advanced society.
A third lesson, which the First Minister referred to, is
about the consequences of leaving hate and discrimination
unchallenged. What began
with casual antisemitism, laced with conspiracy theories and
pseudo-science, traversed a darkening spectrum of increasing
social and economic marginalisation that led ultimately to the
factories of death at Chelmno, Majdanek, Treblinka, Belzec,
Sobibór and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
As the Holocaust slowly passes from
living memory, will the First Minister advise the Parliament on
how the Scottish Government will continue to support work to
ensure that the memory of the Holocaust is preserved for future
generations and that future generations are taught those
lessons, which we must never forget?
The First Minister:
I thank for reminding us so
eloquently and powerfully of the horrors of the Holocaust and
other genocides and for reminding us, particularly in the world
that we live in today, of the importance of no one being a
bystander in the face of intolerance and hate.
When we stand at the end of the railway line in Birkenau,
as many in the chamber have done, we realise powerfully that
the Holocaust did not start there; it ended there. It got to
that stage because hatred, antisemitism and intolerance were
tolerated by many people. As we mark Holocaust memorial day
this year, the most important message is that we must not be
bystanders.
As the Holocaust passes out of
living memory, it is vital that the next generations remember
and learn the lessons. Learning about the Holocaust is part of
international citizenship education, which is central to
curriculum for excellence.
In addition, the Scottish Government
supports the Holocaust Educational Trust’s lessons from
Auschwitz programme, which includes a visit to
Auschwitz-Birkenau and aims to increase knowledge and
understanding of the Holocaust. I have made a very public
commitment to the trust that, as long as I am the First
Minister, we will continue that support. I am sure that all
parties are committed to continuing that support long into the
future.
Students who participate in the
programme become Holocaust ambassadors in their schools and
communities, and they do excellent work to keep remembrance
alive. In our roles as constituency and regional MSPs, it is
important for us all to support those fantastic young
ambassadors, who not only keep the memory of the Holocaust
alive but help to pass on to the next generation and beyond the
message about not tolerating hatred.
